Mating Dance for Morons
by dancinglemur
Summary: G1 While Megatron and Starscream were about as subtle as a brick to the face when it came to these sorts of things, Thundercracker and Skywarp’s relationship was much more understated.


Mating Dance For Morons) G1 While Megatron and Starscream were about as subtle as a brick to the face about these sorts of things, Thundercracker and Skywarp's relationship was much more understated.

**A/N: **From a conversation with Oni-Gil about the differences between Megascream and TC/Warp. A prelude to jetsmut. Yeah, it's short. Sorry. But it's quick! I don't think I've ever posted two completely different things this close together ever before! (Yes, I am very, oddly, proud of this.)

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For the most part, they went unnoticed. Everyone's attention was always on the complicated, convoluted dance that was always transpiring between their leader and his Second in Command like the mating rituals and dances of the Earth avians. No one ever paid attention to the much more subtle dance that was always going on between Starscream's wingmates.

Both of them knew that many of the other troops merely saw them as Starscream repainted. This was understandable: Starscream (even if he hadn't been Air Commander, Second in Command, and the stupidest smart mech anybot had ever seen) always drew the most attention to himself. He basked in the spotlight and demanded that it shine on him constantly. When the spotlight was taken away from him he got irritable and irrational, which was the reason for about a fourth of his arguments with Megatron (a fourth because he genuinely had a problem with one of the leader's plans, a fourth because he wanted his spotlight back, a fourth just to be annoying, an eighth because he secretly enjoyed it, and an eighth because he lived off of and coveted Megatron's attention) and drew _more _attention to himself in his attempts to draw everyone's attentions back to him.

This left Thundercracker and Skywarp in the half-shadows that would always cover them as long as they were Starscream's wingmates. They didn't really mind it, actually. Everyone else was so focused on Starscream that they passed Skywarp off as a stupid prankster and Thundercracker off as a brooding antisocial. No one bothered to look deeper than that, all too busy watching their trine leader make a fool of himself.

And that suited Skywarp and Thundercracker just fine. It left them free to be themselves and be together. It was common knowledge that they were friends, but few (Starscream, Megatron, and probably Soundwave, too) knew that they were much _more _than that. The pranks, the pouting, the dry sarcasm, the casual way they smacked each other around and the fights that left them dented, scratched, and grinning: it was the same thing Starscream and Megatron were doing except happier, subtler, and (in the case of the physical fights) completely not serious and done in jest.

With a flash of purple, Skywarp was suddenly at his elbow, grinning his usual mischievous grin and tugging insistently on his elbow joint.

_//Come __**on**__, TC!! I wanna go flying and Screamer's just started up another row with our _glorious _leader over somethin' stupid.//_

Thundercracker's outward appearance did not change, but he sent a pulse of his near-infinite patience down their bond, along with understanding, affirmation, and more than a tint of his affection for the black and purple Seeker. Skywarp's optics dimmed to a sensual soft glowing red and his engine purred against Thundercracker's back at that last one.

_//In a moment, Warp. Just let me finish this report for Starscream and then...//_

_//Awww, slag Screamer!! You know he's just gonna end up either in a medbay berth or in Megatron's. He won't even be _thinking _about reports until next cycle!!// _He whined and wheedled over their bond, looking adorably put out and pleading as he tugged more insistently on Thundercracker's elbow.

The more serious Seeker felt his resolve weakening and soon he cycled air through his vents in a sigh and pushed back from the computer console he was working at, saving the beginnings of his report and exiting the program. He stood, his wings purposefully scraping against his bondmate's as he rose. They both shivered at the wonderfully scraping contact and turned quickly to exit the room, their armor subtly scraping and brushing against one another as they left.

In the background, Starscream and Megatron were now screaming at each other and a crowd was gathering. No one took notice of the other two Seekers' departure, and if they did they brushed it off as the duo's not wanting to see their wingmate get beat to slag _again. _

The two left the _Nemesis _without a problem and soon two jets, one black and one blue, could be seen dancing together in flight above the ocean waves. And if you looked closely you'd see how their wingtips lightly brushed together as they performed their own mating dance to match their trine leader's.

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Wow, two in one day. Or no, wait, it's 2009 now! Happy New Year! (I wonder... if it's 2009 here on the East Coast, do people on the West Coast see it posted as 1/1/09 or 12/31/08?)


End file.
